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The Desert Rats

Name: The Desert Rats
Genre: War, Action
Released: 1953-03-26
Duration: 88 min
Rating: 6.3

★ 6,3 /10 (97 Votes)

1953 EN 88 min

Overview

In North Africa, German Field Marshal Rommel and his troops have successfully fended off British forces, and now intend to take Tobruk, an important port city. A ramshackle group of Australian reinforcements sent to combat the Germans is put under the command of British Captain MacRoberts. The unruly Aussies immediately clash with MacRoberts, a gruff, strict disciplinarian, however this unorthodox team must band together to protect Tobruk from the German forces.

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Release date

26/03/1953

Votes

Popularity

0.8

They crawled their way across the blazing sands of Africa... to turn disaster into victory!

Genres

War Action

Status

Released

Language

Runtime

88 min

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Richard Burton

Captain "Tammy" MacRoberts

James Mason

Field Marshal Erwin von Rommel

Robert Newton

Tom Bartlett

Robert Douglas

General

Torin Thatcher

Col. Barney White

Chips Rafferty

Sgt. "Blue" Smith

Charles Tingwell

Lt. Harry Carstairs

Charles Davis

Pete

Ben Wright

Mick

Patrick Aherne

English Officer (uncredited)

John Alderson

Corporal (uncredited)

Frank Baker

British Officer (uncredited)

No photo

John Blackburn

Sergeant (uncredited)

No photo

Robert Boon

German Lieutenant (uncredited)

No photo

Frederic Brunn

German Gunner (uncredited)

No photo

Arthur Brunner

German Radio Man (uncredited)

No photo

Paul Busch

German Orderly (uncredited)

Paul Cavanagh

Colonel (uncredited)

Frank Chase

Commando (uncredited)

No photo

Tony Christian

German Sentry (uncredited)

Nicolas Coster

Medic (uncredited)

Noel Drayton

Captain (uncredited)

No photo

Harold Dyrenforth

Observer (uncredited)

Charles B. Fitzsimons

Fire Officer (uncredited)

John Fraser

Artillery Man (uncredited)

No photo

Arno Frey

Kramm (uncredited)

No photo

Ray Harden

Hugh (uncredited)

No photo

Charles Keane

Sgt. Donaldson (uncredited)

Lester Matthews

Foreign Secretary (uncredited)

Gavin Muir

Captain (uncredited)

James O'Hara

Communications Man (uncredited)

No photo

John O'Malley

Riley (uncredited)

Patrick O'Moore

Jim (uncredited)

No photo

Peter Ortiz

Wireman (uncredited)

Michael Pate

Capt. Currie (uncredited)

No photo

Richard Peel

Rusty (uncredited)

Guy Prescott

Maj. O'Rourke (uncredited)

Jack Raine

C.I.C. (uncredited)

Otto Reichow

Gunner (uncredited)

Michael Rennie

Narrator (voice) (uncredited)

No photo

Jerry Riggio

Commando (uncredited)

No photo

Per Skavlan

German Guard (uncredited)

No photo

Frederick Stevens

German Major (uncredited)

No photo

Gilchrist Stuart

Captain (uncredited)

No photo

Albert Taylor

Jensen (uncredited)

John Wengraf

German Doctor (uncredited)

No photo

Alfred Zeisler

von Helmholtz (uncredited)

No photo

Ashley Cowan

Original Soundtrack

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Come out of your holes you desert rats! The Desert Rats is directed by Robert Wise and written by Richard Murphy. It stars Richard Burton, Robert Newton, Robert Douglas, Torin Thatcher, Chips Rafferty and James Mason. Music is by Leigh Harline and cinematography by Lucien Ballard. The follow up to The Desert Fox (it's not a sequel) from two years earlier, was in essence an attempt to readdress the balance after The Desert Fox annoyed certain quarters with its admiration for what a great soldier Field Marshal Rommel was. So here we have the battle of Tobruk orchestrated by the astute Robe…

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With Rommel (James Mason) bearing down heavily on the beleaguered allied garrison of Tobruk, it falls to "Capt. MacRoberts" (Richard Burton) to try and galvanise some war weary ANZAC troops for one last defence against the wily Desert Fox. He's not exactly puritanical, but he doesn's suffer disobedience and that sets him, initially, against his new troop when he over-reacts to behaviour from their "Lt. Carstairs" (Charles Tingwell). As luck would have it, though, the regimental dipso - "Bartlett" (Robert Newton) just happens to have been the captain's schoolmaster and still commands enough res…

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Movie Review: The Desert Rats (1953) The Desert Rats (1953), directed by Robert Wise, is a war film that brings to life the courage and perseverance of soldiers during the defense of Tobruk in World War II. While the film offers a Hollywood take on this significant chapter of history, it balances its historical inaccuracies with strong performances, especially from Richard Burton and James Mason, making it an engaging watch. The film focuses on British and Australian forces during the North African Campaign. Under the leadership of Colonel Nicholson (Burton), the men of Tobruk are forced to ho…

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